Path forward

After school was over, Adam was still sitting next to Mei with a hand under his chin, being in a daze and looking thoughtful

"Adam-kun, Adam-kun" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he felt a soft hand in his shoulders

"Hmm, What's the matter Mei-san?" Adam said, confused as he turned to look at Mei who called out for him

"School is over, if you haven't joined a club, you should go home" Mei looked at him and said in her ever gentle voice

Adam confusedly looked around and realised that there weren't any other people present in class except the two of them

"Ah, thank you for the reminder Mei-san" Adam said to her in a thankful voice

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go" He continued, hurriedly preparing his things to get out of this classroom as soon as possible

Without looking back, be turned around to leave, but something grasped his hand and stopped him

"Adam-kun, what do you think about me?" Mei asked in a small and embarrassed voice, hesitation breaking through her gentle voice

Adam froze in his steps, turning around and giving Mei a weird look that was practicaly saying 'Are you serious?'. Nevertheless, he chose to reply with honesty

"Well, you are beautiful, outgoing and you have a good personality" Adam said in a deadpan voice, not much emotion escaping his fave

Mei opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted her

"But that's not what you want to hear, is it?"

"You hear those compliments all the time. They are just empty words to you at this point" He smiled with melancholy "But I would say that you are also an intelligent, hardworking and gentle girl"

Mei's cheeks now had a faint pink hue as she seemed both embarrassed and surprised at what he said

She coughed and tried to regain her composure as she looked at him seriously in the eye "Then why do you pity me so much?"

Adam's eyes widened at that but he instantly regained his composure "Pity? I think you are mistaken" He finished with a neutral expression

Mei's fist clenched at his answer but she still insisted "I'm not dumb. I know how you look at me, and you don't even hide it" She finished while biting her lower lip

"Haah, troublesome.. " Adam muttered under his breath, appalled as a headache started aching in his head

"I pity you because you look so damn lonely"

"Ah?" Mei looked at him in confusion, her expression surprised

"No, seriously. You are the heiress of ME corporation. So you can never know If the people around you are friends with you so they can benefit from you, or if they genuinely want to be close to you because of your own personality and efforts" Adam said with a complicated expression

He wasn't lying, Mei became a Herscher because she was lonely and she was at despair after everyone she called friends abandoned her

"Is that... Why you pity me?" Mei questioned him in dazed voice, her indigo eyes having a hazy look

Adam looked at her with a complicated emotion in his eyes. No matter how much he tried, he still couldn't stop the knowledge of her fate that appeared in his head everytime he saw this girl up close

"You know" He started "There was a saying back where I was from. That the higher one is in life, the deeper they can fall" he finished

"..."

"Also, it takes one mistake to for everything to go wrong. People will ignore all the other good things you did, and only focus on that one bad thing"

"..."

"You are just a normal heiress, so you don't have much to worry about for now. I only pity you for.... Well, you'll know in the future"

Mei looked speechless and thoughtful as he finished his rant, and he didn't bother to snap her out of her daze

"Goodbye Mei-san, see you tomorrow" Adam waved goodbye at her and left

.....

...

.

Adam was currently in his room, holding a notepad and focusing on writing every method he knew to get stronger in this world

His first interaction with Mei today made him feel that he was in danger. The 3rd eruption is months away, so he doesn't have much time. The only thing he can do now outside the Chat Room is find actual ways to get stronger in his world

He had written a lot of ideas for powers and items that he could use to enhance himself further

These are:

Stigmata

Herscher cores and gems

MANTIS surgery

Divine keys

Battle suits

Stigmata's powers are derived from the previous era, the kaslana stigmata has the blood of Kevin, who is a MANTIS and has the honkai beast gene of parvati, which Adam can easily devour directly with his ability

Other stigmata like Mei's stigmata or Seele's stigmata are derived from the Herschers of the previous era and they are infused with their powers and memories, so that's a no go for him

Herscher cores and gems are more complicated. There are four Herscher gems in this world and three of those are in the hands of Shicksal and one is in the hands of Anti-Entropy

The gem of serenity and the gem of haste is still in Shicksal, the gem of desire is in a branch of Shicksal and is being used for experiments on valkyries in hopes of making an artificial Herscher, and the gem of conquest is inside Mei right now, and it will become the core of thunder in the upcoming honkai eruption

All of these are a no go, he will leave the gem of serenity for Seele to become the Herscher of death because it suits her. As for the the gem of haste and the gem of desire... Well the first will be used by Kiana to become the Herscher of Flamescion, but the second may be up for grabs after Wendy's death

As for becoming a Herscher directly... Well, he knows all the people who will become Herschers in the future and it is a bit difficult to replace them

The only way to become a Herscher is to go to Welt Yang and convince him to give up his core, which is pretty difficult

He isn't really as passionate in fighting for humanity as him, nor is he too thrilled to manage a huge organization like Anti- Entropy. Although anyone would be pleased with that kind of organisation at their beck and call.... He feels that it's too troublesome and not worth the effort and dedication

As for MANTIS surgery.... Adam already had a "MANTIS" surgery, one from the Chat Room no less

Divine keys are weapons from the previous era made with the core of a Herscher and soulium, and while they are powerful, they can't compare to the might of a Herscher. Not to mention the difficulty in obtaining one

Battle suits... Forget it, Adam doesn't want to rely on something external that will last him only for a time before he gets stronger like armor

And finally... Adam looked at the last entry that he wrote down

Knowledge

Yes, knowledge is a way to get stronger too

Examples of this are Mobius, Dr. Mei, Otto and Walter Yang

Herschers are the embodiment of a physical rule. For example, the Herscher of thunder, her power isn't to control lightning, but her power is to control electromagnetic waves, one of the four fundamental forces of the universe like the strong force, the weak force and gravity

Give the core of thunder to someone like Dr. Mei or Tesla, and civilization and humanity in general is doomed

The Herscher of the void can literally traverse dimensions, create world bubbles and cut anything and anyone as long as they don't have defenses for space attacks

And what does Sirin with such power? She throws spears around and creates portals here and there

Honestly, Adam never really understood why the main cast didn't learn more about their powers and how to use them with science. If they did, it will solve a lot of troubles and make their life a lot easier by themselves becoming stronger

Adam never underestimated the power of knowledge after he saw a fan fiction where the main character became a multiversal level god with some copy eyes and the Herscher core of Reason

That's why after he finished writing ideas in his notebook and realising none of them are feasible for now except knowledge, he immediately started reading and studying about anything he could find, whether it is physics, science, biology or even chemistry

This is his path forward from now on, that is how he will improve his chances of surviving in this world

In his previous life, he was satisfied with knowing the basics of how the world works, but now that knowledge isn't enough, so he would make damn sure that he learns all the knowledge the internet has to offer

It is for survival, after all...

.....

...

.

-------

AN:

Just my perspective on how overpowered Herschers actually have the potential to be

I can't really understand why other fan fictions ignore knowledge - it is very important for Herschers. Can you imagine Dr. MEI as the Herscher of Thunder? Or maybe MOBIUS as the Herscher of Corruption?

I don't know if there aren't fan fictions who don't put importance in knowledge, or I personally haven't found one

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!